Friday the 13th

[Bonnie]

I never knew their was an actual name for the phobia or fear of Friday the 13th until I heard it on the news this evening: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Try and say that three times in a row!

Phobia
The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom "Friday" is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia[1][2] a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning "Friday"), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning "thirteen") attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning "fear"). The latter word was derived in 1911[citation needed] and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.[3]

History
According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.[4][5][6] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini:

"Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky"

Consequently, several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.

Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,[3] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s.[6][7] It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.[8]

One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,[9] in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.[4] Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common.

The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention. Although according to many Freemasons, this date corresponds with the slaughtering of the Knights Templar by the Church. [3][7][10]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th

My mom died on a Friday the 13th. For the time I was 12 till I was 18 I hated Friday the 13th's I would not go to school in fear someone else would die while I was at school. They told me my mom dies at school so thus the fear and that day. Now I can careless and it is another day and a very poor movie franchise.

[TexasRN]

I have always claimed Friday the 13th as a lucky day. If I feel I will have good luck, I seem to have good luck. Funny how that works, huh?......



~Amy

[adamt]

i have always thought that saturday the 14th was luckier than friday the 13th was unlucky

[Neezar]

Originally Posted by TexasRN

I have always claimed Friday the 13th as a lucky day. If I feel I will have good luck, I seem to have good luck. Funny how that works, huh?......



~Amy

Me, too.

Every birthday that I have on Fri the 13th turns out to be a great one! Maybe people just try to drown out the bad luck. lol

I had a great day at work yesterday!

[Bonnie]

I had to reschedule my appointment for my 6 mo. check-up tests so I said, "How about the following Friday?" The scheduler said, "Are you sure you want to come on that day, you know it's Friday, the 13th?" I said, "Sure, let's go for it!"

[Play The Man]

I assumed it was an older superstition than the 19th century. You learn something new every day.

[Tyburn]

I dont believe in luck.

I remember Friday 13th as the smoothest landing I've ever had when coming home from Tenerife. Since then every landing has been horrrible - and has made me hate flying!

[Play The Man]

Originally Posted by Bonnie

I never knew their was an actual name for the phobia or fear of Friday the 13th until I heard it on the news this evening: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Try and say that three times in a row!

I was reading Chanticleer And The Fox for bedtime stories tonight. It is an adaptation of the Nun's Priest's Tale from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. When Chanticleer is grabbed by the fox and says "And all this trouble came on a Friday.", I thought of your footnote about Chaucer's Canterbury Tales being the oldest mention of Friday as being an unlucky day.